The Salton Sea 2
by Beppo
Summary: Lets take a look a little farther into the life of our favorite Tweaker, Danny Parker. Or is it Tom Van Allen?
1. Return to The Salton Sea

The Salton Sea  
  
Danny Parker/Tom Van Allen is sitting on the couch of his new apartment. He is flipping through the channels, staring mindlessly at the television. Suddenly, he looks indirectly at us and tells us his story:  
  
** "Hello again, friends, it is me, Danny Parker. Or Tom Van Allen. I have yet to decide, but that has nothing to do with this story. No, this story goes much deeper. In fact, it goes right back into the mixed up world of the Tweaker, which I thought I had left for good with the closing of our last discussion.  
  
You see, that's the thing about drugs that you must try to understand. Not only for my benefit, buy for yours. Drugs corrupt you. They take a semi normal life and destroy it, like they did mine. Well, actually, that was my own fault, but the drugs did play a big part in it. Once you let that shit get you, it has you forever. You can try to convince yourself that you are over it, you can take yourself out of the "situation", but it wont last long. Sooner or later, you will be right back where you started, slamming the crank like it was your first time.  
  
And then there are people like me. The people who DO walk away from the whole lifestyle surrounding drugs and never look back. Instead, we get dragged back into it bodily.  
  
I don't really miss my old apartment. It was kind of ironic, really. My old apartment was right in the center of Hell, so it was only appropriate that it should burn down, don't you think? Anyway, this apartment is much nicer. It is slightly larger, also. I could do with out the vomit green carpet, though. Hmm. Oh well.  
  
It's getting late. Or early, depending on how you look at it. There's nothing on TV. I guess it's true, what they say about having 500 channels and there is STILL nothing on. I think I'll go to bed." **  
  
Danny heads off to bed. He strips down to his boxers, and folds down the corner of the sheets before climbing inside. He thinks to himself:  
  
** "For some reason, I have a weird feeling. I don't know how to explain it, it is kind of a foreboding feeling, like something bad is going to happen. I don't know why." **  
  
He lays there in his nice, warm bed for a little while longer, and then he drifts peacefully off to sleep.  
  
A few hours later, something wakes Danny up. He doesn't know what it was, but now that he is awake, he reaches for the light on his night stand. The lamp clicks as he turns the switch, but the light doesn't come on.  
  
"What the Fuck..." He mumbles into the darkness, "What now?"  
  
In his mind he decides that he needs to change the light bulb, so he begins to sit up. When he tries to swing his legs over the edge of the bed, he hits a very large object and jumps into a sitting position.  
  
"Who the fuck are you?" Danny barks, realizing that the "object" was a man  
  
"You mean to say you don't remember me, dawg?" Came the reply- A voice from Danny's past with a southern accent  
  
** "Holy shit! It couldn't be! Could it?" ** Danny thinks  
  
"Holy shit. Morgan? Is that you?" Danny asks the man  
  
"I always knew you were observant." Morgan said, moving closer to Danny  
  
"But. But. You're dead?" Danny stammered, questioningly  
  
"Am I? You didn't really think that you were the ONLY one who knew how to use a bullet-proof vest, did you?" Morgan replied  
  
"You had a vest." Danny said, talking more to himself than to Morgan  
  
"Damn straight I did. I wasn't about to try a stunt like that with out one"  
  
Danny silently fumbles around the darkness looking for a gun that he usually keeps by his bed.  
  
"Looking for this?" Morgan said, pointing the loaded gun at Danny's head.  
  
Morgan cocked the gun, and Danny put his hands in the air.  
  
"Ok. Ok. So you've come here to kill me? Revenge? Is that it?" Danny asked, a little flustered  
  
"Now that hurts to hear, dawg. Would I ever hurt you?" Morgan said sarcastically  
  
"Well, you did try to kill me. There's always that." Danny replied  
  
"I was only defending myself, Danny." Morgan said simply, "And if you remember correctly, you tried to kill me, too, so why don't we just let bygones be bygones?"  
  
"You murdered my wife, you bastard." Danny murmured.  
  
"I already told you, that was an honest mistake. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Do you think I would have killed her if I knew she was your wife?!?" Morgan asked, gun still drawn  
  
Danny paused. He hated thinking about what had happened to his lovely wife, but he answered anyway.  
  
"Yes. Yes I do." He finally replied  
  
"Gee, dawg, I love you too. And kudos on knocking off Garcetti, by the way. He was a real pain in the ass." Answered Morgan  
  
Danny knew that if Morgan wanted him dead he would have shot him already. He hated Morgan so much for murdering his wife, but he knew that if he wanted to leave this room alive, (which in its self was debatable), he would have to play along. He decided that it was for the best, and he humored Morgan. But he cringed at the thought.  
  
"And he didn't even like dolphins." Danny replied calmly.  
  
Morgan laughed at this, and he briefly shifted his gaze to his lap, but the gun stayed level to Danny's head  
  
"Yeah." He said, looking back at Danny  
  
"So if you aren't here to kill me, what DO you want?" Danny asked, changing the subject  
  
"I was hoping you'd ask that," Morgan said, putting his free hand on Danny's knee  
  
"Whoa, whoa, what's this?" Danny asked, moving his leg uncomfortably  
  
"It's ok. It's ok, dawg. We're all friends here" Morgan replied  
  
"If it's all the same to you, DAWG, I have enough friends trying to screw me over." Danny retorted  
  
"Ok, let me explain it to you like this, my little Tweaker friend." Morgan began  
  
"No no no. I am not into that shit any more" Danny said, cutting him off  
  
"Whatever. Anyway, the point is that no matter how big of an asshole Garcetti was, he was still a cop, and you still killed him. You see, other cops tend to frown on that. One anonymous tip, and you are done for, so you pretty much have to do as I say, when I say it. Not only that, but your past with drugs won't help you out very much."  
  
** "That son-of-a-bitch." ** Danny thought to himself  
  
"So, in other words, you are blackmailing me?" He said  
  
"Very good, dawg! I knew you would catch on sooner or later!" Morgan said, sarcastically  
  
"Blackmailing. Blackmailing is. uh. Very illegal" Danny stuttered, as if he were distracted by something.  
  
"Yes. It is" Morgan sighed, "But you know, it's not as bad as. oh, let's say.. MURDER." He teased Danny  
  
"No, I guess not. So what do you want me to do?" Danny asked, reluctantly  
  
"Get some sleep. You look terrible. I'll see you bright and early and tell you ALL about it." Morgan replied, standing up  
  
"I had a feeling that you would." Danny replied quickly  
  
Morgan laughed to himself, and walked up next to Danny. Strangely enough, Morgan leaned in to kiss him, but Danny instinctively pulled away.  
  
Morgan, who was still only inches away, whispered to Danny, "Don't be stupid, dawg. I don't want to bust you, but I will if you leave me no choice."  
  
He leaned closer to Danny once more, but this time Danny didn't pull away. Morgan kissed Danny on the forehead.  
  
"'Night" Morgan said, before leaving the room, "Pleasant dreams" 


	2. Coffee and Kingpins

When Danny woke up the next morning, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee surrounded him.  
  
** "You've gotta be shitting me." ** He thought to himself as he staggered down the hall.  
  
"Morgan? Where the hell are you? You better not be making dishes out there, because I am NOT washin' 'em.... Morgan?" Danny called out, almost rhythmically.  
  
"Take a look at this" Morgan said from his seat at Danny's table against the window.  
  
"What?" Danny said, peering at the newspaper sprawled across Morgan's lap.  
  
The headline read: Mysterious Drug Kingpin Almost Captured!  
  
"So?" Danny asked.  
  
"So?" Morgan repeated, "Don't you know who this 'Mysterious Kingpin' is?"  
  
"You?" Danny inquired, coolly  
  
"Ha-ha, bro. Real funny. Does the name "Quincy" ring a bell? As in the one that shot you?" Morgan said as he checked Danny out. Danny was too busy reading the story in Morgan's lap to notice.  
  
"Quincy is the 'Mysterious Kingpin'? Now I've heard everything." Danny answered  
  
"It's true. And you are doing to help me take him down." Morgan said, looking up at Danny, who was still reading.  
  
Danny looked up from the paper quickly, after he realized why it had been placed there.  
  
** "Is it just me or is this prick trying to get me to check him out?" ** He pondered  
  
"What's wrong, dawg?" Morgan asked, with a crooked smile spreading across his face  
  
** "Cute. Real cute, asshole. You know what's wrong. Hey! Did I just say he's 'cute'? I feel as if I need to scrub myself.It is WAY too early for these head games." **  
  
"Hm? Oh, nothing. I was just thinking." Danny said  
  
"About what?" Morgan asked, with a sing-song childish tone to his voice  
  
** "So he wants to pretend to be gay now? Ok. Maybe I'll just give him a run for his money. If I make him crack, maybe he'll leave." **  
  
"Actually, about a couple of things.." Danny said, carefully toying with Morgan  
  
"Like what?" Morgan said in that same tone  
  
"Well, about the whole Quincy thing for one. How do you plan to get him?" Danny asked, avoiding the one subject that Morgan wanted to touch upon  
  
"Aw, it's too early for that. How about I tell you over coffee?" Morgan said, obviously asking Danny out on a date  
  
The entire conversation made Danny twitch, but he managed to keep his cool. I mean, to say that Morgan was HOT would be a complete understatement. The guy was gorgeous beyond words, but first of all, he had killed Danny's wife, and secondly, Danny was a guy, and guys aren't supposed to find other guys 'hot', right?.  
  
Danny walked up behind Morgan, who partially followed him with his eyes. Danny began to rub Morgan's shoulders, while he continued the conversation:  
  
"Nah, I don't like coffee. How about I cook you dinner? Right here?" Danny asked, taking Morgan by surprise  
  
"Uh. Sure. I'd. Uh. Love to?" Morgan stammered  
  
"Good." Danny replied simply  
  
"What else were you thinking about?" Morgan asked, hesitantly  
  
Danny stopped rubbing his shoulders, and kneeled down behind Morgan. He rested his chin on Morgan's shoulder.  
  
"Us." Danny said against his will, but Morgan couldn't tell  
  
"Wh. What do you mean, 'us'?" Morgan asked  
  
"I think you know what I mean," Danny said, wrapping his arms around the chair and running his hand over Morgan's chest.  
  
"Don't tell me you don't feel it too?" he continued, but he stopped rubbing Morgan's chest when he said that.  
  
Morgan urged him to continue by jerking his arm, and Danny scratched Morgan's chest and stomach playfully, while Morgan squirmed in the chair  
  
"Of course I feel it," Morgan said blatantly, "I just wasn't sure if you did."  
  
"Mmm" Danny grunted, as he kissed Morgan's neck lightly.  
  
He moved up a little and started nibbling on Morgan's ear, when suddenly the phone rang.  
  
** "Thank God, thank God, THANK GOD!!!!" ** Danny said to himself as he stood up  
  
Danny dragged his had along the length of Morgan's shoulders. He picked up the phone.  
  
"Uh huh." Danny said to the person on the other end while Morgan looked up at him innocently, "Yeah? Uh huh. Ok, hold on."  
  
Danny turned to Morgan. "Would you excuse me? I have to take this. I'll see you around 6PM, then, right?"  
  
"Hm?" Morgan said, breaking his gaze on Danny, "6PM? Ok, see you then" He answered.  
  
Morgan got up, and headed out of the sliding glass door behind him.  
  
"Ok, you were saying?" Danny spoke into the phone, "Yeah. Yeah. Ok"  
  
He was hardly paying attention to the caller as he counted Morgan's footsteps until he was sure that he was gone. He turned back to the telephone in his hand  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm not interested" He said, and then he hung up on the telemarketer.  
  
Danny sunk to the floor.  
  
** "Damn," ** He thought, ** "either this guy is a REALLY good actor, or I am REALLY fucked" ** 


	3. Dinner With Morgan

** "Suppertime." ** Danny thought to himself, while he was cooking.  
  
"Our first date, and the son-of-a-bitch is 15 minutes late." He thought aloud. "And now I'm talking to myself. What next?"  
  
The doorbell rang, and Danny jumped. He was expecting Morgan, but he was still a little surprised when he actually showed up. He walked over to the door with his apron on, spatula in hand, and opened it. Sure enough, there was Morgan, who presented him with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  
  
"Shit, you really are serious about this, aren't you?" Danny asked hesitantly  
  
"You're Goddamned right I am, dawg" Came the reply.  
  
** "Just play along, Danny. Play along." ** Danny thought to himself  
  
"Lord give me strength." He said, taking the flowers from Morgan "You know I never kiss on the first date, right?"  
  
Morgan glanced at the floor and laughed under his breath.  
  
Together they walked back to the kitchen. Morgan sat at the table while Danny returned to his cooking.  
  
"Nice place you got here" Morgan said, looking around the kitchen  
  
"Bullshit, but thank you anyway." Danny replied, not taking his eyes off the stove  
  
"What's for dinner?" Morgan asked, trying to make small talk  
  
"Well. I do hope you like slightly burnt chicken." Danny replied cheerfully, "I guess I kind of lied about being a good cook.."  
  
"It's alright, dawg. I just like being here with you." Morgan replied, smiling  
  
** "You've GOT to be shitting me." ** Danny thought  
  
"That's a nice sentiment. You should write greeting cards, really." He said to Morgan, who was staring dreamily at Danny.  
  
Danny put the radio on, and sat down. They ate dinner and listened to music on the radio for a little while, when all of a sudden a news bulletin interrupted a really irritating car commercial. It said that DNA has proven that a man named Quincy Vaughn is the "Mysterious Kingpin", and that they do not know of his location. They asked for the public's help in catching him, but they should consider him to be considered armed and dangerous.  
  
** "How comforting." ** Danny thought  
  
"I guess you were right about Quincy." Danny said, breaking the silence  
  
"Is that the only thing I was right about?" Morgan asked, running his leg up Danny's suggestively  
  
Danny swallowed hard. He didn't know how to react to this, or if he should keep playing along.  
  
"I. Uh. I don't. Know." He stammered, moving uncomfortably in his seat.  
  
"It's okay, Danny" Morgan said, standing up, "It's okay"  
  
* Danny suddenly had a flashback of his wife dying in the little room in the Salton Sea. As she leaned against the wood-paneled wall, blood streaming down her hair from a gunshot wound inflicted by Morgan himself, she reaches out to Danny and whispers "It's okay. It's okay." *  
  
Danny shakes his head to get rid of the horrible image as Morgan walks around the back of his chair and begins to rub his shoulders. He clenches his teeth together and tries to resist the urge to kill the man who had murdered his wife. Danny's blood boiled with hate as he sat in the chair with Morgan behind him, rubbing his shoulders, but he didn't say anything. He didn't do anything, either. In fact, he realized something that he hadn't before: Even if he COULD kill Morgan right now, he probably wouldn't. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he was actually starting to LIKE the bastard.  
  
Morgan ran his hands down over Danny's chest and rested them on his stomach. He put his head on Danny's shoulder, and sighed contentedly.  
  
"You should go." Danny said uncomfortably  
  
"Yeah, I should." Replied Morgan, standing up  
  
Morgan had just about given up on being with Danny as he headed toward the door. He figured that he had made Danny too uncomfortable, and that he didn't have a chance with him. Morgan left the house and walked down the front stairs toward his car, not looking back. He was just going to drive away and never come back, when Danny broke the silence.  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Danny asked from the doorway, almost hopefully  
  
Morgan turned toward Danny quickly, and smiled. 


	4. The Call

Danny laid awake in his bed for a good portion of the night. He tossed and turned for hours, just thinking. He thought about his wife, and the news, and how being a narcotics officer had changed his life. He thought quite a bit about Morgan, also.  
  
Just as Danny began to drift off, the telephone rang.  
  
** "Oh, what now?" **  
  
"Hello?" Danny said sleepily  
  
"Danny?" Came the reply. It was the whisper of a woman's voice  
  
"Who is this?" Asked Danny  
  
"It Colette. Colette Vaughn." She answered  
  
Danny sat up in bed.  
  
"Do you remember me? I used to live across the hall from you." Colette continued  
  
"I remember. What do you want?" Asked Danny, running his hands through his hair  
  
"Have you heard the news?" Colette asked  
  
"About Quincy, right?" Said Danny  
  
"Yeah" Colette sighed  
  
"Yeah, I heard." Replied Danny "What about it?"  
  
"He's after me, Danny. I need your help. Please. I have no where else to go" She pleaded  
  
"Um, I don't know, Colette. Can I get back to you on that?" Danny asked  
  
"I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow night. Please think about it, Danny!" She said, hanging up the phone.  
  
Danny looked questioningly into the night, before lowering the telephone back onto the receiver. He laid back down.  
  
"How bizarre." He said aloud to himself, before finally falling asleep. 


End file.
